Slow-Cooker Turkish Lamb & Vegetable Stew

Slow-Cooker Turkish Lamb & Vegetable Stew

9 Reviews

From: EatingWell Magazine, October 1998

Layers of fresh Mediterranean vegetables, seasoned with an abundance of bay, garlic and oregano, meld with tender lamb into a luscious harvest-time supper. Serve the stew with rice or warm whole-wheat pita.

Preparation

Active

20 m

Ready In

4 h

Season lamb with ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Heat ½ tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the lamb and sear, turning, until well browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a 4-quart slow cooker. Add another ½ tablespoon oil to skillet and brown remaining lamb. Add to slow cooker.

Add remaining ½ tablespoon oil to skillet and reduce heat to medium. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and oregano; cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer, mashing with a potato masher or fork. Remove from heat and spoon half the mixture over the lamb.

Arrange potatoes in a layer in the pot; season with ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Add green beans, followed by eggplant and zucchini, seasoning each layer with ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Spread remaining tomato-onion mixture over vegetables. Top with bay leaves.

Cover and cook on high until lamb and vegetables are very tender, about 4 hours. Discard bay leaves. Serve hot, garnished with parsley.

Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Reheat on the stovetop, in a microwave or in the oven.

Lamb cut from the leg is 19 percent leaner than shoulder meat.

For easy cleanup, try a slow-cooker liner. These heat-resistant, disposable liners fit neatly inside the insert and help prevent food from sticking to the bottom and sides of your slow cooker.

Reviews 9

Fantastic!
My Girl Scout troop made this to have at our World Thinking Day event. We served small amounts in tiny cups with pita chips (to act as spoons). It was hard to find lamb in our small town, so I ended up buying ground lamb stew meat. It came out great. We actually ran out, as those who liked it came back for seconds! If you can't find lamb, you can easily substitute beef stew meat or even hamburger. The prep time is worth the effort, as the flavor is great!
Pros: Tastes great, easy to make, savory
Cons: Lots of prep

October 07, 2013

By: EatingWell User

Wonderful
This recipe is wonderful, I added beef consume and red Lambrusco and it turned out great! I forgot to add salt and pepper in between layers. Would not change anything else, no cons really but prep is a lot of work, it took me a good 30-45 min.
Pros: Very tasty, added some red wine and beef consume
Cons: Prep

December 28, 2012

By: EatingWell User

A crock pot favorite
This recipe involves slightly more prep work than your typical crock pot stew, but the time and effort is worth the results. Meat cooks up wonderfully, and is very tender with lots of flavor. My only recommendation is to add slightly more liquid (either water or broth) to avoid burning in your crock pot.
Pros: Healthy, Flavorful, Tender, Reheats well
Cons: Prep work

December 06, 2012

By: EatingWell User

Simple and Yummy
We just tried this for dinner tonight and it's going into our regular rotation. The lamb comes out juicy and tender and the vegetables cook together nicely. You don't need rice or bread with this because the potatoes and eggplant provide enough starchiness.
Pros: easy to make, nice mix of lamb and veges
Cons: a little prep work required

January 16, 2012

By: jayjayharding

Absolutely delicious!
I can't even explain how much I loved this stew. It is incredibly filling and the flavors mix together so well. My husband and I both had seconds and finished off the leftovers the next day (and he's not usually a big fan of lamb).
As I was prepping it, I was worried about the big slices of vegetables not cooking properly (since I'm used to dicing veggies for stews), but everything cooks together amazingly well.
I've never cooked with lamb, and it seemed to be a little tougher to cut and trim compared to beef, but that could be my inexperience. The effort was so worth it though!
I followed the recipe with only the following exceptions: I used yellow squash instead of zucchini because it's what I had on hand, and I think I also used more lamb than the recipe called for. I bought a 3-lb leg of lamb and cut away about a third of it because there was so much fat on it.

April 14, 2010

By: EatingWell User

I was skeptical about those 6 bay leaves, but wowie! What a great and easy dish! A real keeper - I bought lamb to freeze just so I can make it whenever.

April 04, 2010

By: lttlrussky

easy to make and mmmmm delicious!! I served this to my boyfriend and his parents and it was a hit. This was surprising considering my boyfriend doesn't like lamb. It was that good!

February 18, 2010

By: EatingWell User

Mmmmm. I made this dish last night. It was very tasty and satisfying. There were lots of different veggies in it. I will say it was a little bit more work than your average slow cooker recipe being that you had to brown the lamb and saute the onions but it was worth it. It was perfect for a cold day. I'm excited to try it as a leftover!